Seal-lock.



N0. 68|,l9L 4 Patented Aug. 27,'l90l.

HQB. BBOWER.

SEAL LUCK.

(Applkmtiun led Ag. 29, 1900.) (No lodeL) `I-IIRAM B. BROWER, OF QUAKER FARMS, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO VOODS CAR SEAL AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS.

SEAL-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 681,191, dated August 27, 1901.

Application led August 29, 1900I Serial No. 28,874. (No model.)

T @ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, HIRAM B. Bnowna, a citizen-of `the United States of America, and a resident of Quaker Farms, New Haven county, and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Seal-Locks,of which the following is a speci- .ification p My invention relates to seal-locks of the false adjustment of the lock, so as to appear y to the inspector as he passes by to be properly locked and yet be so that it may be opened Without breaking the seal.

My improved construction is represented in the accompanying drawings, in`which y Figure 1 is a frontelevation of the lock with a part in vertical section and with the hook in the open position, also with dotted lines indicating the hook in the closed position. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front elevation with a part in vertical section and with the hook partly closed. Fig. 4 isa section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 isasection of the hollow hub of the hook and a side viewof the `rest ofthe hook, showing said Aparts constructed separately and illustrating the manner of connecting them without special fastening devices, so as to practically constitute the one-piece hook necessary to the practical operation of the lock. Fig. 6 is a top view of the two parts of the hook in the same relation to each other as represented in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a top View of a cani-ring used in the hollow hub of the hook. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of said camring. Fig. 9 is an end elevation of a pivotstud by which the hook is pivoted on the hasp. Fig. 10is a side elevation of said pivotstud with a part in section. Fig. 1l represents an end viewand'side view of a rivet for attaching the pivot-stud to the hasp. Fig.

12 represents a side view and end view of a seal-breaking plunger which is caused by the movement of the hook in opening to break the seal. Fig. 13 represents an end View and a front view of seal-holding cleats. Fig. 141E is a perspective view of the hasp of the lock. Fig. 15 is a plan View of a cam-ring in a modilied form in respect of the means for preventingfalse setting. Fig. 16 is a section of parts of the hook in a modified form of construction and side elevation of the cam-ring represented in Fig. 15. Figs. 15 and 16 are inverted relatively to Figs. 2 and 4. Fig. 17 is a diagram of aseal such as is employed in the lock.

A represents a hasp such as is usually pivoted at a to a car-door to be connected to the body, or vice versa, by a staple, as b, (dotted,) over the projecting portion of which the slotted end c of said hasp is adjusted `to be secured by the prong d of a hook pivotedon the stud e, attached to the hasp. The hasp is stamped or pressed out of sheet metal and punched as usual in the productionof such articles, the holed being for the hasp-pivot, slotf for the rivet g, by which the stud e is secured, and the slot h for the staple b. The stud e :is stamped or drop-forged and formed With a tubular socketrlnearly its whole length and slotted through the bottom of the socket at j, corresponding with the slot f in the hasp for receiving the body of the rivet g, which is inserted from the inside of the hub and riveted on the back of the hasp, so as to draw the shoulder 7c of the rivet hard and fast on the front surface of the hasp. The `stud is formed with a shoulder 7c and with a large disk head Z and is slotted transversely at The hook comprises the hollow hub n, shank o, and the before-mentioned prong d, being in its entirety practically the same as in my former patent, above referred to, except that owing to its peculiar form it was thought necessary to produce it by the casting process, which demands more metal and greater Wei'ght for the requisite strength than is'desirable, and the process of molding and casting is slower and more expensive than drop-forging or pressing, which is the more desirable Way of producing such articles in all cases of shapes that can be so produced. To this end I have now contrived to IOO produce the hook in two parts of such form as may be drop-forged or pressed to advanf tage and so that they may be effectually connected in the assembling of the parts of the lock Without any special fastening other than is used when the hook is of integral construction. One of said parts comprises the cupshaped hollow hub n, the body of which is a hollow cylinder open at one end and having a bottom head p,which is centrally perforated at q and radially slotted at s from the rim to the center perforation, and opposite said slot is another radial slot t, beginning at the perforation q and widening outwardly into a circumferentially-extended open space u, which is extended to the rim and upward, as at fu, Fig. 5,V to the extent of the thickness of the shank of the hook. The other part of the hook comprises the before-mentioned shank and prong d and a disk head w in a plain form well adapted for drop -forging The disk .head is adapted in size to fit snugly in the hollow shell of the hub, in which it lies on the bottom of the cup when the parts of the hook are connected and when the hook is connected to the hasp, as seen in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive.

Figs. and 6 show the manner of assembling the two parts of the hook and connecting them together, the disk head 'w being inserted upward through slots s and the opening u in the bottom of the hub (see Fig. 6) higher than represented in Fig. 5 until the narrow partos of the shank reaches slot t and opening u and may be shifted to the right hand entirely into said opening. Then the shank is turned a quarter of a revolution, so that hook d points frontward in respect of Fig. 5, and when Aso turned is drawn downward relatively to hub n and at the same time swung to the right hand and upward, as indicated by the dotted line y, bringing the disk head downward iiatwise into the hub to the positions represented in Figs. 2 and 4. The cam-ring and the spring are then placed in position, and the pivot-stud e, with the seal-breaking plunger in it, is then placed in position, with its lower end inserted in the center hole a of the disk head of the hook and hole q of the bottom of the hub and resting by its end on the hasp and is secured by the rivet g, inserted through slots j and fand headed on the back of the hasp A, as shown at 4, Figs. 2 and 4, thus pivoting the hook on the hasp and at the same time securing the two parts of the hook together without other fastening. The shoulder 7.4 of the pivot-stud e confines the hook in its position, but with the requisite freedom for allowing the hook to turn freely.

The disk head of the hook has ratchet-teeth 5 projecting upwardly from the bottom of the hollow tub and notches or recesses 1Sintermediately of the teeth. A cam-ring 6 is provided to iit on the pivot-stud e, under its flange-head Z, so as to turn freely, said ring having a flange-head 7 at'the lower end hav-y ing notches 12'and from the under surface of which downwardly-projecting ratchet-teeth 8 are provided intermediately of the notches 12. The upper side of the cam` ring has notches 10 and oam-inclines 11, rising out of said notches at one side. A seal-breaking plunger 13 is fitted in the bore of the pivot"- stud e to slide up and down freely, with lateral studs 14 projecting through the slots m 'of said pivot and outwardly to a certain eX- tent over the cam-ring,which is placed under said studs.

The head Z of the pivot-stud e is equal in diameter to the inner diameter of hub n of the hook, and it constitutes a cover to the parts within the hub. Its position is at some distance below the top or outer edge of the rim of the hub, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. On its face are secured cleats with overreaching flanges l5, under which the seals 16 of frangible nature are confined in front of the outer end of the seal-breaking plunger 13, so as to be broken when the plunger is thrust out by the cams. At 17 the hub n is notched in the outer edge to the level of the face of the head Z of the pivot-stud e, and the notch is located in said hub in such relation to the seal-holding cleats 15 that it registers with them for inserting the seal through it when the lock is open and the hook is raised, as shown in Fig. 1. When the hook is closed, the notch 17 shifts out of register with said cleats, and the seal is confined and its removal prevented, except by breaking it, and the broken seal shows the unauthorized opening.

A coiled spring 9, placed between head Zof the pivot-stud and i'lange 7 of the cam-ring, tends to keep the cam-rin g in bearing contact with the disk head of the hook or, in other words, with the inside of the bottom of the hub of the hook. When the hook is down in the locking position, as indicated by the dota ted lines in Fig. 1, the notches or recesses 18 of the hook register with the teeth 8 of the cam-ring and the notches 12 of the ange 7 of the cam-ring register with the teeth 5 of the hook, and the cam-ring then drops into engagement with the hook, as shown in said iigure, so that the cams 11 will when the hook is raised pass under the studs 14 and raise the plunger and break the seal; but if it be attempted to set the hook part-way down, but not far enough to so engage with the camring, and thus have the appearance to a careless inspector of being all right for subsequent opening without breaking the seal, the teeth'8 of the cam-ring will rest on the surface of the hook, preventing the cam-ring from dropping clear of the studs 14 at the points 19, Fig. 4, and when in such case the hook is raised teeth 5 of the hook will engage teeth 8 of the cam-ring when or before Ithe hook rises to the position represented in Fig. 3, and it will be locked against further upward movement by said points 19 of the IOO IIO

" l and seal-breaker are used by the means aboveset forth for preventing the false setting of l, revolution from one position to another, and the camring which is turned to the same eX- tent has four cams 11 and notches 10, so that 1y at'the end of each upward seal-breakin g movement of the hook other cams and notches register with the studs 14, allowing the sealbreaker to be thrust back for inserting the r new seal, and the cam-ring remains at rest While the hook is turned down again for be ing locked. Another Way of so locking the hook may be provided by having teeth 5a of the hook act on teethfS of the cam-ring and providing notches 21 in the teeth 8a with `which the teeth 5a Will engage when it is attempted to falsely set the hook, said notches not being deep enough to allow the cam-rin g to be pushed back far enough for the studs 14 to escape from notches 10 and ride up the cams 11, as shown in Figs. 15 and 16.

A spur is struck up out of the edge of the hasp at 23 for a stop to arrest the back movement of the hook-When the notches 10 of the cam-ring register with the studs 14 of the plunger 13; What I claim as my invention is- 1. The hook .consisting of the socket-hub having the slot `and the notch in the bottom, said notch in the bottom extended up the side of the socket, and the shank having the disk head adapted for connection with the hub by being inserted through the slot and notch p and placed flatwise on the inside of the botthe hook. The hook turns a quarter of a` tom of the hub with the shank extending' through the notch in the side of the hub.

2. The combination of the hook consisting of the cup-shaped hub having the perforated slotted and notched bottom, the shank having the perforated diskhead adapted for connection Withthe hub through said slotted and notched bottom, the pivot-stud and the hasp, said hub and shank secured in connection With each other by the pivot-stud attached to the hasp, and also secured to said hasp by said stud.

3. In a seal-lock of the character herein described, the combination with a hasp and a hook pivoted on said hasp, of a seal-holder in which the seal is not removable intact when the lock is shut, a seal-breaker. and means operated by the hub of the hook to ac-` tuate said breaker bythe opening of the hook and automatically break the seal prior to the release of the hasp, also means to prevent false engagement of the hook so as to open Without breaking the seal, said latter means consisting of the notches or recesses in the bottom of the hook-socket intermediate of the ratchet-teeth of said bottom, and the notches in the iiange of the cam-ring intermediate of the teeth of said ring, together with the notches and inclines on the upper side of the cam-ring, and adapted to permit opening the hook only when the notches or recesses in the bottom of the hook-socket register with the hooks of the cam-ring, and the notches of the cam-ring register with the hooks in the bottom of the hook-socket.

Signed at Seymour this 6th day-of July, 1900.

HIRAM B. BROVVER.

W'itnesses:

S. HART CULVER, OLIVET E. BRO WER. 

